The Oscar-nominated actor died Wednesday evening of cardiac arrest at home in the Las Vegas-area city of Henderson, Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said Thursday. He was 85.

"He died peacefully here, surrounded by those who love him and have been caring for him," his wife, Jill Curtis, told The Associated Press outside their home. "All Tony ever wanted to be was a movie star. He didn't want to be the most dramatic actor. He wanted to be a movie star, ever since he was a little kid."

He was also a great a story teller. At a point, when many were starting to get exasperated with Kubrick doing two hundred takes for a two minute sequence, he said that he asked someone "who do you have to f*ck to get OUT of this picture?"

Not one of the many hundreds of samurai movies made in the past century even as much as hinted at it nanshoku, the "love of the samurai"*. From its pivotal position in the education, code of honor, and erotic life of the samurai class, the love of youths has sunk below the level of the untouchable to the level of the unmentionable, truly "the love that dare not speak its name". But the indelible fact remains that one of the fundamental aspects of samurai life was the emotional and sexual bond cultivated between an older warrior and a younger apprentice, a love for which the Japanese have many names, as many perhaps as the Eskimo have for snow.

Democratic donors like George Soros, the bête noire of the right, and his fellow billionaire Peter B. Lewis, who each gave more than $20 million to Democratic-oriented groups in the 2004 election, appear to be holding back so far.

"Mr. Soros believes that he can be most effective by funding groups that promote progressive policy outcomes in areas such as health care, the environment and foreign policy," said an adviser, Michael Vachon. "So he has opted to fund those activities."
...
The donors' reluctance stems from a variety of factors, including pessimism about the party's prospects in November, but also President Obama's strong condemnations of this kind of independent activity, both during the 2008 campaign and after he was elected. FDL/NYT

I don't care if they call me a whiner, it was always B.S. from the beginning and I knew that. As I sit on the sidelines now accompanied by George Soros I will flutter my lashes and jeer back Dumb A$$e$ now when the "whiner" din gets too loud.

the University of Michigan has banned Andrew Shirvell, Assistant Attorney General of Michigan, from the campus. Shirvell is appealing the decision. Moreover, the president of the University of Michigan Student Assembly, Chris Armstrong, has filed a personal protection order against Shirvell fearing for his safety and privacy. The story about Assistant Attorney General Shirvell's cyber bullying and stalking of Mr. Armstrong, the openly gay student leader, was revealed in a CNN interview of Shirvell by Anderson Cooper.

Shrivell was apparently shocked to learn that Cooper may be gay but seems to be enjoying his national attention. Shirvell is on a mission to curb the "homosexual agenda" he claims Armstrong advocates, to the extent of starting his own blog that specifically targets the student. Shirvell has apparently yielded to an obsession with the handsome student, following his friends in hope of locating Armstrong, taking pictures of Armstrong's house, and calling the office where Armstrong was doing a summer internship in DC.

The Attorney General, Mike Cox (I am not making that up) has been supporting his colleague with freedom of speech arguments as well as that Shirvell's activities are on his own time. Shirvell is a graduate of Ave Maria Law School, the arch-conservative Catholic institution founded with Domino's Pizza money of Thomas Monaghan and has been an activist with Westboro Church bigots. It seems to me that Cox has a greater responsibility to the integrity of his office so as to avoid appearances of intimidation and abuse of power. Perhaps a complaint to the Michigan Bar Association would be an attention grabber for both Cox and Shirvell.

Cox is the GOP AG in Michigan who went around Dem. Gov. Granholm to join the GOP AG battallion filing suit against the health care law, if I recall right, despite her refusal to go along with it. He tried initially to file suit on her behalf as governor, and when she blocked him from doing that, figured out he could file suit on behalf of the people of Michigan without her agreement.

a penchant for outreach and overreach: As Michigan Attorney General he filed an amicus brief in support of California Prop 8 appeal of Judge Vaughan's ruling, and got himself involved in the Arizona immigrant law.

Housekeepers/maids empty the trash, you dope, and are pretty frequently nosy enough to be curious about papers like that in among the used tissues and cigarette butts, etc. In my mother's last years, her once-a-week cleaning lady several times fished stuff out of the wastebasket to give to me because she'd seen it and was worried it shouldn't have been discarded.

The erstwhile everything-is-about-illegal-immigration Congressman from Colorado and now the spoiler (for Republicans) thrd-party candidate for Governor. Some years back that same Tancredo had to own up to the fact that he hired "illegals" to do construction work on his basement; apparently, he didn't check. But then, according to him in the "sanctuary city" that us Denverites inhabit, you are responsible, etc. etc. etc. Or maybe not so when it comes to Tancredo himself. (Flashback: All those come-home-to-roost sex scandals & Republicans.) Who knows about Whitman... but ala Tancredo and others didn't she really condemn herself no matter the details? After all, she is a newly minted follower of the Arizona governor...shouldn't she have a strong "burden" on this. To laugh or to cry?

Occam's razor should apply. Since Whitman fired the housekeeper when she discovered she was illegal, it only makes sense that she would fired her earlier if she had known earlier. Whitman was paying fair wages and would have certainly known what the penalties for hiring an illegal are. The person who most benefitted from the letter being "misplaced" was the housekeeper.

we have two people reaching back into their memory banks to support their respective contentions; it's hard to know who is telling the truth, frankly.

I thought I had read or heard that there was more than one letter sent; if so, that could mean something. But I also read that there is no requirement that the employer do anything other than to let the employee know there is a problem with the SSN, and the employee should get it straightened out; the letter may even state this, I don't know.

And if that's the case, and if there was no duty on Whitman's part to do anything, why wouldn't she just throw the letter out?

This wasn't a short-term relationship - it lasted nine years, and Whitman must have been happy enough with Nicki that she trusted her to take on child care duties that included ferrying the kids here and there for all that time.

The balance of power in that relationship was clearly tipped in Whitman's favor, and that means that the potential for abuse of the employer-employee relationship was weighted for Whitman to be the abuser, not Nicki.

Regardless of whether Nicki was documented or not, and regardless of whether Whitman knew one way or the other, I don't think that gives Whitman - or any employer - the right to take advantage of any employee in the way that is being alleged.

What Whitman is being alleged to have done is happening all the time, either because people fear the immigration authorities, or, for the millions of legal residents and citizens living on the margins, they need the work so badly they just take it.

Whitman could have afforded to have a full complement of hired help to assist her with the running of the household and the care of her children; she apparently chose to hire a young Latina and then take advantage of her instead.

And we already know - for a fact - that Nicky will present untruths when it benefits her.

We also know that her motivations for the untruths, intercepting mail, etc., were much more than Whitman's. Her motivations were much higher on the hierarchy of needs than Whitman's.

Nicky had to support her kids and family, Whitman wanted a clean house and a driver.

Nicky says she came to Whitman in 2009 and

"asked her for assistance," [Nicky] Santillan said. "I explained to her why I came to the United States. I explained that I was married and our economic situation in Mexico was very bad. We had no job, no food, no place to live and for that reason we made the decision to come here."

and she said that four days later Whitman fired her because of it.

Whitman fired her in 2009 because she was illegal. Had she known previously that Nicky was illegal it stands to reason she would have fired her then.

No one knows who is telling the truth, but quit acting like Whitman has no reason to lie. Her reputation and millions are on the line, she has far more to lose than the maid.

I would like to know how the maid was paid, and if Whitman followed all the employment laws, such as withholding and unemployment taxes. Did she pay her in cash, like most who hire people they suspect aren't citizens.

Sorry, but I just don't buy that a powerful former executive, governor hopeful, and billionaire is letting the maid go through the mail.

She a service and this business of a mailbox/mailman coming to the door is absurd. I can also promise you she doesn't toss mail in the trash that is of any importance, even little ole me shreds anything with an address of personal info.

no way she'd let a letter like that go into the garbage w/o shredding it first.

Not so sure about the "no way Whitman would let/make the maid get the mail" part.

If Whitman does shred her mail, then Nicky is lying about seeing it in the garbage. I wonder if she's flat-out lying about seeing it at all.

In which case I would guess the letter-in-the-garbage fable was authored by Allred.

I also don't buy that after 9 years Whitman suddenly realized illegal Nicky was a liability. Whitman has been high-profile for a very long time, an illegal maid would have been a liability to Whitman the whole time.

The lace-like skin forms once the seawater, misted onto its exposed mesh, evaporates and leaves a layer of salt behind. Because the Persian Gulf has the world's highest salinity for oceanic water, the salt deposits accumulate quickly, making the transparent skin take on a new crystalline appearance.

. . the self-righteous right wing knows about economics. It occurred to me that the CNN piece about the poll showing atheists more knowledgable about religion that the churchgoers was symptomatic of a larger malaise. When did we become such a shallow, heartless nation?

I just got off the phone with Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who said he was calling to personally apologize for the "All fagg*ts must die" comment left here on JMG last Tuesday. I'll paraphrase what Chambliss said to me, but reporters, please don't excerpt any of this as his exact words.

Why didn't Whitman perform a complete check at the hiring stage? The immigration issue has been off & on intense in California for 30+ years. Other people check references, etc. Some have raised the DADT comparison. But, it is more than that. An employer has an affirmative responsibility in a number of areas--see Social Security and related--to ascertain what the employee status is. It doesn't take a corporate executive to figure that one out...especially one who has been on recent record as being soooo concerned about illegal immigration.

There are 12 ways to Sunday for this type of name/SSN disconnect to happen. The instructions on the form specifically tell them to contact the employee AND that the employee is not obligated to actually show them the SSN card.

Updated at 3:55 p.m.: An earlier version of this item said the letter contained a signature that might be Harsh's. The letter has handwriting on it, but not a signature.]

The statement came hours after Whitman held a news conference at which she insisted neither she nor her husband had seen the letter from the Social Security Administration, and suggested that the housekeeper had intercepted it.

The statement in its entirety:

"While I honestly do not recall receiving this letter, as it was sent to me seven years ago, I can say it is possible that I would've scratched a follow up note on a letter like this, which is a request for information to make certain Nicky received her Social Security benefits and W-2 tax refund for withheld wages.

Since we believed her to be legal, I would have had no reason to suspect that she would not have filled it in and done what was needed to secure her benefits.

"It is important to note what this letter actually says: 'this letter makes no statement about your employee's immigration status.'

"The essential fact remains the same, neither Meg nor I believed there was a problem with Nicky's legal status and I certainly don't recall ever discussing it with my wife, nor did I ever show her any letter about it.

The facts of this matter are very clear: Ms. Diaz broke the law and lied to us and to the employment agency.

When she confessed her deception to us last year, we ended her employment immediately.

Meg and I played by the rules and followed the law. Ms. Diaz did not.

If, as she claims, she received this letter and note of inquiry from me, she never answered my request to look into this. Instead, she choose to continue her deception.

This entire matter is a sad one and it's timing is clearly the result of a calculated and cynical political smear by Meg's opponents."

No recess appointments during the campaign period. Were they afraid of any election fall out? Obviously, the most important nomination is the OMB director since there was no Budget Resolution or appropriations bills passed.

Poor governing from the Dem leadership.

Senate blocks recess appointments with deal between Dems, GOP

Senate Democrats struck a deal Wednesday night with Republicans that will keep President Obama from making recess appointments while Congress is out of town campaigning for the midterm elections.

Democratic leaders have agreed to schedule pro-forma sessions of the Senate every week over the next six weeks, a move that will prevent Obama from making emergency appointments, according to Senate sources briefed on the talks.

The reason, according to top Democratic and Republican aides has nothing to do with recess appointments per se, but rather with protecting the rest of Obama's executive and judicial nominees.

All presidential nominees expire when Congress adjourns for recess, unless the entire Senate agrees they can be carried over to the next session. Obama's had to renominate several of his picks after recent recesses because of this obscure rule, and with Republicans, and even some Democrats, objecting to so much these days, Reid's decision will allow all of Obama's nominees to remain valid when the Senate returns in November.

I'm not enough of a procedural wonk to know if the stated reason is sound enough to offset the opportunity to make recess appointments.

supposedly archaic rules, but if previous recesses resulted in "renominations" then it appears to be an administrative exercise (see the previous Obama recess appointments). The same could/would happen when Congress reconvenes in Nov.

clearly blocks any recess appointments. Would never put my money on "they can't be that stupid" when it comes to politicians. Here is a little more info on the subject:

Janet Yellen and Sarah Bloom Raskin finally got confirmed by the Senate as members of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. Peter Diamond, another nominee, will have to wait until the lame duck session. The confirmations were part of a large deal, where some nominees got to move through the Senate in exchange for Democrats holding pro forma sessions so President Obama could not make any recess appointments. The 54 nominees confirmed included 12 ambassadors, 11 U.S. Marshals, 6 U.S. attorneys and one district court judge. Basically, Mitch McConnell threatened to send everyone back to the White House:

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had threatened to send Obama's most controversial nominees back to the president if Democrats did not agree to schedule pro-forma sessions, according to a senior GOP aide.

Senate rules give McConnell this power.

That would have forced the president to resubmit the nominees to the Senate and Democrats to start their confirmation processes (including hearings) all over again.

As I stated, I do not know all the ins and outs of the Senate's procedures. Seems that the resubmission including hearings would definitely prevent any action taking place on the other outstanding appointments during the lame duck session. Also from what I've read, the lame duck session is completely overbooked with outstanding legislation without adding anything else to the schedule. See The Fattest Lame Duck in Captivity: 20 Bills Possible for Lame Duck Session

session. If it wasn't our country, it would be comical that after ~2 years with massive majorities and the WH, the Congress is even considering a huge lame duck agenda. Sad or pathetic, take you choice.

There probably was some serious horse trading happening to clear 54 nominations but, to then handcuff your own party's POTUS ANDnot get anything else in return is lame (pun intended).